5-2-2024 Bilingual Torah Commentary / Comentario Bilingüe

The Center for Latino -Jewish Relations’ Weekly Parashah 

In many ways the Hebrew month of Iyar represents the undulations of Jewish history, its tragedies and its moments of joy.  From Passover until Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day), the calendar takes us on an emotional rollercoaster.  We begin with Passover.  The story of Passover is one that takes us from slavery and degradation to liberation and freedom.  Just as the Passover holiday comes to an end we turn to the darkest period of modern Jewish history, Yom Ha’Shoah (The Remembrance of the Holocaust) and the Nazi murder of six million Jews solely for the “crime” of being Jewish)  

Then soon after Yom Ha’Shoah, we mark Yom Ha’Zicaron (Memorial Day) and the sacrifice of over 20,000 soldiers in the fight to establish a Jewish state in the land of our ancestorial homeland.  With the setting of the sun on Yom Ha’Zicaron, the day’s tears and sadness turn to joy as we mark the rebirth of the Jewish people in the land of Israel. The returning of the Jewish people to its land symbolizes the end of 2,000 years of foreign domination over our land.  Despite the media’s accusations, it is only Jews who are native to Judea and the land of Israel.

These are not easy days.  Yom Ha’Shoah reminds us that for the last 2,000 years we were victims of European slander, and tragically we still are.  Antisemitic Europeans have accused us of everything, from being too aggressive to being too passive, from being too wealthy to being too poor, from being too business-minded to being too academic.  Long before the 1930s we were (and are) the world’s punching bag.  For over two millennia Jews have been the world’s constant victims.  Jewish independence changed the narrative and gave us a sense of dignity.  Is that sense of dignity one of the unconscious causes for Europe’s and the left’s anti-Israel bias?  Then as now, there are those who simply refuse to see Jews as anything else but victims.  Might that be the reason that so many on the extreme right and left support and demonstrate in favor of terrorists?

The Hebrew month of Iyar is never an easy time, and this year it is more difficult than ever.  Yet Iyar’s messages are needed more than ever.  As Israel bravely fights to put an end to terrorism, Jewish students are once again the subject of hate.  The TikTok generation, composed of both of students and professors, continues to demonstrate its academic and moral shallowness and not only by how little it understands about the Middle East, but also about the many tragedies occurring throughout the world.  For many, the campus demonstrations are a chance to express unadulterated hate.  

The fact that now, as in the 1930s, this hate is led by some, not all, leftist university professors, teaching at elitist universities, should remind us of the failure of Western education.  Who would have expected to hear “Gas the Jews” or “Finish the Final Solution” some 80 years after the Holocaust? In reality it does not matter if these students are ignorant of the meaning of their words or cognizant of them, in either case their actions are a tragedy and a stain on academia.  Just as occurred 80 years ago, there are those, especially in far-left circles, mimicking Nazi propaganda and seeking ways to justify the tragedies of October 7^th.

Soon we will celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut-75. Despite  the daily headlines we need to be mindful of the fact that no nation has done more with less than Israel.  Despite having to survive in the world’s roughest neighborhood, no nation has succeeded in such a short time and with less resources than Israel. 

The Hebrew year 5784 has not been easy, but it reminds us of the beauty expressed by Ha’Tikvah, Israel’s national anthem. In the light of hate we must find the strength and hope to rebuild and to make the world a place where our caring casts out the evil shadows of intolerance and the sunshine of hope leads to a better and happier world